header-logo header-logo

Contract of insurance—Nature of contract

22 February 2013
Issue: 7549 / Categories: Case law , Law reports , In Court
printer mail-detail

Re Digital Satellite Warranty Cover Ltd and another v Financial Services Authority [2013] All ER (D) 140 (Feb), [2013] UKSC 7

Supreme Court Lord Neuberger P, Lady Hale, Lord Mance, Lord Clarke and Lord Sumption SCJJ 13 Feb 2013

First Council Directive (EEC) 73/239 did not prevent member states from imposing wider regulations on insurance contracts including contracts for benefits in kind rather than pecuniary benefits.

Lesley Anderson QC and Lloyd Tamlyn (instructed by Brabners Chaffe Street LLP) for the appellants. Jonathan Crow QC and Charlotte Cooke (instructed by the Financial Services Authority Legal Department) for the Financial Services Authority.

The appellants were engaged in selling and performing extended warranty contracts. Under the contracts, in consideration of a periodic payment, they contracted to repair or replace satellite television dishes, digital boxes and associated equipment in the event of breakdown, malfunction or, in certain cases, physical damage. Although not accepted by the appellants, the litigation proceeded on the basis that at common law the contracts were contracts of insurance.

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Pillsbury—Peter O’Hare

Pillsbury—Peter O’Hare

Partner hire bolstersprivate capital and global aviation finance offering

Morae—Carla Mendy

Morae—Carla Mendy

Digital and business solutions firm appoints chief operating officer

Twenty Essex—Clementine Makower & Stephen Du

Twenty Essex—Clementine Makower & Stephen Du

Set welcomes two experienced juniors as new tenants

NEWS
The High Court’s decision in Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys has thrown the careers of experienced CILEX litigators into jeopardy, warns Fred Philpott of Gough Square Chambers in NLJ this week
Sir Brian Leveson’s claim that there is ‘no right to jury trial’ erects a constitutional straw man, argues Professor Graham Zellick KC in NLJ this week. He argues that Leveson dismantles a position almost no-one truly holds, and thereby obscures the deeper issue: the jury’s place within the UK’s constitutional tradition
Why have private prosecutions surged despite limited data? Niall Hearty of Rahman Ravelli explores their rise in this week's NLJ 
The public law team at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer surveys significant recent human rights and judicial review rulings in this week's NLJ
In this week's NLJ, Mary Young of Kingsley Napley examines how debarring orders, while attractive to claimants seeking swift resolution, can complicate trials—most notably in fraud cases requiring ‘particularly cogent’ proof
back-to-top-scroll